ABU DHABI // A unique design for a football stadium carved out of a mountainside in Al Ain has won the award for Best Future Building at an international architectural competition in London.
The Rock Stadium is a planned 40,000-seater stadium built into the side of Jebel Hafeet, near the UAE/Oman border.
"We are very proud of this big award, especially when you consider the amazing projects we were up against," said Marwan Zgheib, founder of MZ Architects, the Lebanese firm that designed it.
While developing the idea for the stadium, Mr Zgheib spent three days with a geologist, stone specialist, topographer and a cave expert at the site a few years ago.
"The original thought was to build a stand-alone stadium but, when I saw the site, I knew it would be perfect to carve into the mountain," he said.
Not only was north-south alignment of Jebel Hafeet ideal for the orientation of a football stadium that minimises shadows and glare from the sun, natural materials from the area could be used in the construction.
"The rock and the sand of the site is ideal to use in building and will give a homogeneous look to the stadium with its surroundings, as well as having a minimal impact on the environment," Mr Zgheib said.
Sustainability is one of the key concepts of the Rock Stadium, with the use of excavated material in construction as well as the sunken design limiting the desert sun's impact and cooling costs.
"I think it is the dream of every architect to work on a design which focuses on sustainability through design more than through technology," he added.
The Rock Stadium has already won an architectural award this year and is on the shortlist for three more before the year's end.
"I hope it continues to win and eventually sees the light of day as this project can only be built in this exact location."
tsubaihi@thenational.ae
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
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The specs
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
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Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
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Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
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Power: 276hp
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Price: TBC
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
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Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
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Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support